RRMA
Background Retro Remakes Miniature Arcade, or RRMA, shows an onscreen arcade with eight coin-operated classics whose screens are only 32 by 32 pixels wide. Most games have sounds, as well as scoring and some gameplay mechanics differing from the originals. Two bottom of the screen shooters -- Space Invaders and Centipede -- were included in the package, as well as six other games. Bottom Of The Screen Shooters included/differences from original Space Invaders The player, controlling a laser base, faces an overhead horde of invaders that move from side to side while dropping bombs the entire time; the invader formation will come a notch closer towards the bottom of the screen when it reaches a screen edge. With the fewer invaders that remain as the player destroys them, the faster they will move. Once a screen of invaders are cleared, another batch of invaders will take their place. A high scoring bonus U. F. O. appears overhead during a level as well. If the player’s laser base is hit by an invader’s bomb, that base will be lost and the game will end when there are no more remaining bases. The game will also end if the player gets “invaded” (i. e. if the invaders land at the bottom of the screen). In this version, there are a lot fewer invaders, which also move faster from the onset (although the last invader left at the end of a level doesn’t move anywhere as fast as on the arcade original), invaders make a sound when they fire, the saucer comes out a lot more often and there is one less bunker than on the original. Centipede The player controls a blaster confined to the bottom area of the screen. Once a game starts, a centipede comprised of many segments appears at the top of the screen, which, upon moving horizontally, once it comes into contact with either a mushroom or a screen edge, will drop down a notch. If the centipede or a segment reaches the bottom of the screen then it will start moving back upwards. Also, shooting any centipede segment will turn into a mushroom, which litters the playfield. Other dangers include a fast-moving spider that appears in the player’s area, along with fleas, which drop down from the top of the screen and leave behind mushrooms. Colliding with any enemy will cost the player a life and the game will end if there are no more lives in reserve. Unlike the arcade original, the pace is much easier and mixed, as with every other screen the centipede slows down. Individual segments also do not start appearing, the fleas appear intermittently and there are no scorpions. Additional centipede heads also do not start appearing if either the centipede or a segment reaches the bottom of the screen and then starts back up, plus there is no bonus for any partially-shot mushrooms when a player loses a life, as all mushrooms are accounted for on this version. Other included games Arkanoid is an updated version of Breakout, where the player uses a paddle to knock out every brick in a wall in a level. Missing a ball will cost the player a life and the game will end when all paddles are lost. There are also objects that appear in the playfield that can knock the ball around, although the player can catch several upgrades to their paddle to help out during a game. In Asteroids, the player shoots large asteroids, each of which breaks into two medium-sized ones, which, in turn, breaks into two small asteroids when shot. Getting hit by an asteroid will cause the player to lose a ship and the game will end when there are no more remaining ships. Thrust can also be used to move the player’s ship around the screen. In Frogger, the player controls a frog that must safely hop across several lanes of traffic; from there, they must guide their frog across a pond via jumping on various objects and creatures in order to fill up a row of home bays with their frog. Running out of time before making it to the top, colliding with any vehicle in the first area, along with jumping into the water, hitting a screen edge or being touched or eaten by a creature in the second area will cost the player a frog and the game will end when there are no more frogs left in reserve. In PacMan, the player controls a yellow creature who must eat all of the dots in a maze in order to make it to the next level. Three monsters chase him; being caught by one will cost the player a life and the game will end when all lives are lost. However, PacMan can turn the tables on the monsters by eating an energizer, which he will then be able to eat the monsters for a few seconds. A tunnel at the center sides of the screen also aids PacMan, as it can be used to escape from the monsters (who will hesitate if they enter the tunnel, although this does not appear until the second level [see Trivia]). Pole Position is a racing game where the player must race around a track while avoiding cars. Getting hit by a car will cause a delay in the player’s car to reappear on the track, wasting time. In Scramble, the player controls a jet facing enemies over several scrolling sectors (a city, a swarm of meteors, a cavern filled with U. F. O.s, etc.). The jet fires to the right at targets as well as drops bombs, the latter of which are needed to take out land targets and destroy tanks in order to replenish the player’s constantly dwindling fuel supply. Running out of fuel or colliding with any object will cost the player a jet and the game will end when they have no more jets left in reserve. Controls, playing mode selection *Play using full screen–F key *Play using windowed screen–W key (game select/start) When games are flashing "Insert coin/game over" on their screens, pressing the 1 to 8 keys will select a game: *1–Space Invaders *2–''Asteroids'' *3–''PacMan'' *4–''Scramble'' *5–''Frogger'' *6–Centipede *7–''Arkanoid'' *8–''Pole Position'' (Space Invaders) *Move laser base–left/right arrow keys *Fire–spacebar (Centipede) *Move blaster–arrow keys *Fire–spacebar Trivia *Along with the miniaturized games included with RRMA, Minion Software also created several full remakes, being two Space Invaders games (Space Invaders (Minion Software) and Space Invaders (MK 2), along with a remake of a handheld Centipede game (being Centipede VFD). Scramble, PacMan and Asteroids rounded out the full non-bottom of the screen shooter remakes that were also created. *Differences with the non-bottom of the screen shooter games include there being no warp power-up in Arkanoid, plus with the laser upgrade the shots fire faster. A noise announces when the denizens in the levels are unleashed, they also come out of side areas right above the player’s paddle, which they came out from the top of a level only on the original and they were not able to pass through bricks. Several more power-ups appear at a time as well. There is no hyperspace function, nor U. F. O.s in Asteroids. The timer runs a lot faster in Frogger and the traffic and pond traffic is also different. PacMan has a different maze per level (rather than the one maze on the original), there are no prizes, no points are awarded for eating monsters, there is one less monster and only half the energizers as compared with the original, although an intermission plays after the player completes each maze, rather than there being one intermission after completing two levels. The escape tunnel also starts appearing on the second maze, rather than the first. Pole Position was just stripped down to being a racing game, with no qualifying lap, nor several other laps to contend with afterwards. The hit box is way off, the player’s car can get hit often from behind, the track is different and there are several overpasses that constantly appear which were not in the original. Scramble’s first area is not only different, but is much longer than on the original’s. The player’s bomb trajectory is different and there is now a cavern ceiling on the first area, unlike on the original’s, plus the player will not get a warning sound when they are low on fuel, their jet will explode once they run out, rather than crashing and the player doesn’t accumulate points just by flying. Links *Download game (archived) *Click on the tabber below for a review. tab1= |-| Review= Review Hey, this is cute! Miniature versions of classic arcade games. Several of them have features missing from the originals (like with no U. F. O.s on Asteroids; say what?), but others have neat touches to them (the recreated cardboard moon background in Space Invaders), along with new gameplay mechanics on others (several dead ends on PacMan you're not expecting and how long Scramble's first area is). Although Asteroids and Pole Position were ruined in their execution (how can you have Asteroids with no saucers?), this is worth it for the novelty alone with the small screens and all, along with them being fun. 7/10 (review by Darrylb500) This article was featured from November - December, 2018. Category: Games Category:PC BOTSS Category:Freeware BOTSS Category:Reviews